Pneumatic tire.



I. DRUIVIIVIOND L C. & F. SPUHEL.

PNEUMATICTIRE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. I0| I9I6.

355; Patented July 17, 19172'.l f

W/T/VESSES f .a i

n At

JAMES DRUMIVIOND, CARL SPUHEL, AND FRITZ SPUHEL, OF KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI.

PNEUMATIC TIRE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July l?, 1917..

To'all whom t may concern:

Be it known that we, Janus DRUMMOND, CARL SPUHEL, and ,FRITZ SrUl-inn, citizens of the United States, and residents of Kansas City, in the county of Jackson and State of Missouri, have invented a new and Iniproved Pneumatic Tire, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

`Our invention relates to a tire made up of an annular series of cells whereby the puncturing ot' an individual cell will not atl'ect the remaining cells.

Objects oi the invention are to provide a tire of the indicated type in which the separate cells will be formed of pneumatic sections complete and independent as to their shoes or casines and the securing means for the sections: and to provide for attaching or detaching any particular cell or cells without aftl'ecting the adjacent cells.

Further objects of the invention are to provide securing means i'or the individual sections et' a strong' and simple form, and of a character to proniote 'facility in attachinev or detachii'ie' a cell or cells.

The invention will be particularly explained in the specific description following.

Reference is to he had to the accompanyingv drawings forming: a part of this specification in which similar reference characters. indicate correspondine` parts in all the views. i Figure 1 is a partly sectional side elevation of a portion ot'a wheel equipped with our improved tire;

Fig. 2 is a cross section on the line 2 2, Fig'. 1;

Fig. 3 is a cross section on the line 3-3, Fig. 1 gA Fig. d is an inverted plan view of one of the cleneher seats; v

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig'. 8, and

' showing additional supportingmeans on the felly be/neatlf/the channeled rim.

In the illustration, the letter A represents a channeled rim applied to the elly B of the wheel C.

In carrying out our invention we provide individual seats 10 which are generally rectangular, formed with clencher elements 11 rigid therewith and extending continuously in approximately round form, or at all events, having a form to present clencher members at both sides and at the Jfront and f back ot the element 10. llach seat 10 with its elencher element 11 receives a separate 'continuous at the top and sides and having at the under side an annular clencher rib or bead 12 receivable within the clencher element 11. The casing has a central opening at the inner side for the passage of the air valve hereinafter described. lVithin the casing 13 is an inner resilient sack 15 depressed at the center at the inner side as at 1l t0 conform to the formation of the casing 13 at the opening therein. The several sacks 15 of the air reservoirs collectively constitute the equivalent of an inner tube in a pneumatic tire` ln order that the separate air reservoirs comprising the casing 13 and sacks 15 with their separate clencher seats 10, may be independently attachable and detachable, we provide at each side an l annular series of sector-shaped clamp sections 16. The respective clamps at the opposite sides are secured by transverse bolts 17 having nuts 1S, the bolts being,r provided in pairs between adjacent seats 10. The clamp sections 1G at the inner side are formed with curved grooves or recesses 19 which receive the radial ribs 20 on the wheel rim A and receive also, lateral ribs 21 formed on the sides ot' the clencher seats 10. It will thus be seen that the clamps 1G and their bolts 17 interengage both the rimer.. and the clencher seats 10, thereby positively preventing displacement of the said seats but permitting the ready detachment of any particular seatA with its supported and clenched air'resere voir section. The clamps 16 are formed with flaring: flanges 22 that extend a short distance along the opposite sides of the shoes 13.

It will be observed that the air reservoirs are contracted toward the inner side and the cleneher seats 10 are accordingly of less diameter than the outer portions of the reservoirs. Therefore the adjacent seats 10 aie spaced annular-ly on the rim A' and the' spaces taper radially outward to conform to the formation of the. casings 13. In the spaces between the seats and reservoirs iller`blocls 23 are interposed, the adjacent Jfaces of said blocks at the bases thereof and the seats 10 being approximately radial. Outward from the seats 10 the blocks 23 taper on curved lines tov snugly fill the spaces between the reservoir sections, Thus, the reservoirs are firmly seated and clenched spective pneumatic tire sections may be ree movable With the tire or tire sections, We provide a tire valve which is securable independently of the felly. Instead of radially extending the valve through the felly, we provide an iin-proved air valve designated generally by the numeral 25, the

' shank of which extends laterally through arate and independent cells each having theV tire securing means to a side of t e tire. The shank of the valve 25 extends laterally in a transverse groove 26 in the clencher seat 10, and in the example shown it extends also through a registering hole 27 in one clamp A16. The seat 10 has a radial cen-4 tral hole 28 conmiunicating with the transe verse groove 26 and extending radially outward to the face of the said seat so that the head 429 of the valve which overlaps the air sack l5 or equivalent pneumatic element, will be disposed in the depression 14:. By this arrangement, it will be seen that in removing the tire the tire securing means is detached laterally from the Wheel and the air' valve will be detached with the tire. By the described construction it will be seen that the reservoir sections provide sep- .its own air valve and each att-achalole and detachable independently of adjacent cells.

In the form shown in Fig. 5, the elements are the same as described except 'that in connection with the felly B additional supporting elements are provided beneath the channeled riin A. These elements include two annular bands 30 disposed between the felly and rim and meeting at the approxi'- mate center thereof, said bands having depending flanges 31 at right angles rto the bands and lying against the side `faces of the felly B.

-Having thus described our invention we claimas new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

-l. In a pneumatic tire, a rim, a plurality of seats on the rim and having Itransverse grooves, a separate and independent air reservoir for each seat, the seats and reservoirs lhaving coacting clencher mem-bers, and re is'tering openings, clamps at'opposite sides of the tire and having interengagement with Lthe rim andclenchcr-seats,'bolts for securing the clamps in position, and a separate and independent air valve for each seat, said valve having its shank arranged in the groove of a seat and extending laterally through the clamps.

2. In a pneumatic tire, a rim, an annular series of bulbous pneumatic cells each having a casing and an iniiatable inner sack, a seat for the inner side of the casing, the casing and seat having annular co-acting clencher elements, filler blocks between adjacent seats, an annular series of sector-shaped clam-ps at each side of the tire, tongue and groove connection between the clamps and.'

seats, and transverse bolts extending through the clamps at opposite sides and through the said filler blocks.

3. A pneumatic tire including an annular series of separate bulbous pneumatic air cells, each cell including a casing and an inflatable sack, a channeledrim, a separate detachable seat for each cell, the said seats and casing having interengaging clencher elements and the seats 'having rigid ribs at the opposite sides thereof, and separate clamps at opposite sides of the tire, said clamps having grooves receiving the said ribs on the seats and adapted to accommodate also the sides the rim, and bolts for detachably securing said clamps.

4. In a pneumatic tire, an annular series the air cells, bolts passing through the spaeing blocks and the clamps, and a separate and independent valve for each air cell, said valve extending laterally through the seat and one of the clamps.

5. In a pneumatic tire, a flanged rim, a. plurality of seats, each having lateral lugs, a central opening and a transverse groove, bulbous pneumatic cells on the seats, the seats and cells having co-acting clencher members, clamps on opposite sides of the tire and having grooves receiving the lugs of the seats and theJ flanges of the rim, spacing blocks between the cells, bolts passing through the clamps and blocks, and a valve for each cell, said valve having its head disposed in the cell and its shank extending in the groove of the seat and through one 

